Crash!
The sound of an empty beer bottle shattering on the floor echoed through the bar. An elderly man with a deeply wrinkled face and a beard that nearly obscured his neck stared at his phone screen, a faint glimmer appearing in his usually cloudy eyes.
The last comment he had just read, the one about "seeing the light" and finding "the will to live," was actually written by him. To others, it might have sounded overly dramatic, but to this old man, it was a sincere reflection of his innermost feelings.
He pulled a crumpled banknote from his pocket, slapped it on the table, and rose unsteadily to leave the bar.
What was Elysia doing right now? She was in her bathroom, standing in front of the mirror and repeatedly saying:
"You're so cute~!"
"Ugh, no, no, I'm so cute~!"
"So cute and so beautiful!"
There's a saying that if you wake up every morning and spend a few minutes complimenting yourself in the mirror, you'll feel more confident throughout the day. Elysia was essentially doing something similar.
Of course, her goal wasn't to boost her confidence. Instead, she was using this mirror exercise to become more accustomed to her current identity as Elysia and Elysia's distinctive way of speaking.
Indeed, the real Elysia was undoubtedly a master of flattery, showering praise on herself and others at every opportunity. Compliments were never far from her lips.
For the past two days, every sentence Elysia spoke required a mental check to ensure it aligned with Elysia's established character. But once this "Ely-style" way of speaking became second nature, playing the part of Elysia would undoubtedly become much easier.
Speaking of which, if someone were to suddenly walk in and witness this scene of her endlessly praising herself, wouldn't that be a major embarrassing moment?
No, if someone were to walk in on her, having gradually grown accustomed to the Ely identity, she wouldn't feel the slightest embarrassment. Instead, she'd turn around and ask, "Is there a problem? After all, I'm absolutely adorable, aren't I?"
A true social terrorist knows no fear!
Still, it had only been two days since she'd drawn the Elysia identity. Her speed of adaptation was truly remarkable.
After twenty minutes of self-praise, she immediately stripped off her clothes, took a quick shower, and spent some time drying her hair. Then, she quickly slipped under the covers, curling up on her side, tucking a small corner of the blanket between her legs and hugging the rest to her chest. A genuine expression of blissful contentment spread across her face.
"Mmm~"
Indeed, after a long day, there was nothing more blissful than a hot shower followed by lying in bed to rest.
Though... she hadn't actually done much today. She'd just filmed a self-introduction video and used her Herrscher abilities for the first time in a fight. Compared to her, Baldy Burke was the one who had truly suffered.
Just as he finished editing the video and cleaning up the battlefield, he returned to his office, eager for a rare moment of rest, when he discovered the shattered Crystal Ball.
"!?" Baldy Burke froze, then a mournful wail echoed throughout the White Tower: "Noooo!!!"
The perspective shifts back to Elysia. It's worth noting that after her Ely persona emerged and she gained four bodies, she discovered she no longer needed all of them to sleep simultaneously. Whether this was due to increased mental strength or some other reason remained unclear.
Much like dolphins, who can rest one hemisphere of their brain while the other remains active, alternating between hemispheres to stay awake and active 24/7, Elysia found a similar mechanism at play.
Hmm, though Sparkle's situation wasn't exactly hemispheric specialization. Strictly speaking, she now had four brains, but the underlying principle seemed roughly the same.
In essence, one could think of her four bodies as sharing a single "energy bar." The fuller the bar, the more energized and alert she felt; the emptier it was, the more tired and sluggish she became. Resting in just one body would replenish this shared energy bar.
In theory, if one body remained constantly asleep, the other three could function around the clock.
But this felt too strange. Besides the shared energy bar, physical fatigue still affected each body independently. So Elysia decided to let each body follow its own natural rhythm—resting when needed and doing as it pleased. As a result, her shared energy bar remained almost perpetually full.
The next morning, at the same street corner, Elysia waved to Carolina in the distance. "Hey~ lovely Carolina, Ciallo ～(∠・ω< )⌒★!"
Carolina froze, then glanced around self-consciously, noticing several passersby staring. She hurried over to Elysia. "Wait, what's with that weird greeting?" And aren't you embarrassed to shout it so loudly in the street? she wondered, though she couldn't deny it was rather endearing.
"Ehh~? Not cute enough?" Elysia feigned mild frustration. "I practiced so many greetings for this meeting! No worries, if this one isn't cute enough, I'll try another next time~"
"N-no, that's not the point..." Carolina stammered.
Just as they were about to leave, a hunched-over homeless man collapsed nearby with a loud thud. His metal bowl flew from his grasp, clattering across the pavement as its few coins scattered.
Carolina glanced at the scene without much concern, but Elysia paused thoughtfully. She walked over to the man, gathered the scattered coins, and placed them back in the bowl. Then, disregarding his grimy clothes, she took hold of his arms and helped him to his feet.
The streets of White Eagle were teeming with homeless people, the vast majority of whom were drug addicts. However, a small fraction had been forced into homelessness by circumstances beyond their control.
They might have suffered an accident, faced a family member's illness requiring vast sums of money, forcing them to sell their home, or been swindled out of their savings. Some might even have lost everything when terrorists bombed their homes to rubble, leaving them destitute.
This created a vicious cycle: most companies in White Eagle refused to hire homeless people.
Losing a job led to homelessness, and homelessness made it impossible to find work, perpetuating their plight. While the basic idea was simple, the reality was slightly more complex.
In short, if the person lying before Elysia had been an addict who had brought it upon themselves, she wouldn't have hesitated to leave them be. But she could see no signs of drug use on this particular homeless man. Could he be an ordinary person facing tragic circumstances?
So what if I help him? Elysia thought. It won't take more than a few minutes.